Definitions:
Potitical Correctness (PC): The notion that we must be always engage the emotional sides of an issue for the sake of the individual it affects.
Truth: What is foundationally factual about the world. These facts remain steady even outside opinion or other support.
Love: An unselfish pursuit of another's well being.
Tolerance: The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.
Intolerance: The quality or state of being unable or unwilling to put up with something.
I want to address this notion of Political Correctness. A misconception that may be easily adopted is that PC is a new thing. PC has been around since the conception of society, and has mostly taken the label of tolerance. Someone who's intolerant is not politically correct.
With all of my articles I try to think biblically and critically about an issue. The societal stalemate between intolerance and tolerance is akin to the biblical pinning of truth vs. love. These two are not meant by God to be juxtaposed. Scripture tells us to "speak the truth in love" which means that there must be a middle-ground where truth meets love, and tolerance meets intolerance. Let's begin by looking at how we, as Christ followers, are to think about PC, then compare it to how society expects us to think about PC.
As Christians we are called to be intolerant of what God is intolerant about and to tolerate what God tolerates. Christian hypocrisy increases when we take charge and make our own decisions on what should and shouldn't be tolerated. A pastor named Tullian Tchividjian phrases the idea like this, "We as mere humans must stop making judgement calls on God's love, who he can and can't love." God loves His creation, and has a right to do so as it reads in Romans 8. So when we look down on those who God has not instructed us to look down upon, we essentially make our love of more importance then God's love. Romans 3:20 says: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God."
Furthermore, Jesus says in Mark 2:17, "I have not come for the healthy, but the sick." Jesus loved us while we were still sinners, and even as we may continue in sin, we are to forgive as we ourselves are to forgiven. So that is Christian tolerance. It is loving indiscriminately not based on class, gender, orientation, race, or ability and allowing God to be the dictator of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. What, on the other hand, does PC culture preach about tolerence?
I first started noticing PC after watching season 19 of South Park. It introduced a character named PC Principal who would stop at nothing to make sure his students behaved "well." My favorite episode of the season was called "Safe Space." In it Butters was made responsible for filtering out all negative social media comments from dozens of feeds. The punch line of the episode was that a character named Reality came to notify everyone that "their shit is causing a little boy to die." In the end Reality was hanged.
PC culture calls for the benefits of well-being without the work that it was, throughout history, thought to require. This also means PC stays clear of any harsh and real truths, for the sake of emotions. It is safe to say that PC culture tolerates without discipline and without wisdom. There is no way to discern what is objectively politically correct with no objective value of humanity. PC Principal could just as well make up what and what not was politically correct with no objective value of humanity. In my previous article, I spoke on Identity, for the Christian the objective value of an individual comes from them being a created child of God. This means that because of Jesus we are called to love, not to love only, but also to speak truth.
Jesus calls us to not only tolerate others but to love unconditionally because of their worth as Children of God. Notice my definitions though, tolerate is not the same as love! They weave in and out, sometimes intersecting, while sometimes opposing each other. Christianity often juxtaposes both truth and love, some churches teach we should love more while some say we need to focus more on truth. Again truth and love are not meant to be juxtaposed, but are two sides of the same coin and are to be balanced with great care and precision.
Christians are called to reflect the love of Christ through cultivation of the fruits of the spirit, and to preach truth while remaining in this love. It is okay to be unlinked, it is okay to be hated and spit on for beliefs. Better to stick with truth than to compromise to the culture and accept lies. Jesus and the Gospel is the intersection between tolerance and intolerance. He teaches us to be both truthful and loving. I will conclude with one final story;
In John 8 a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus for Him to judge. In that culture the correct response for an offense like that was death. Jesus knew this, but His ultimate mission would bring redemption and so His response is incredible. Without saying a word Jesus bent down and started drawing in the sand, many grew impatient and left. After a few minutes Jesus stood up and said "anyone who has not sinned, may go ahead and throw the first stone."
Needless to say no amount of pride or self-deception could cause anyone to stick around after that. Jesus was the only one left and He forgave the woman of her sin; although He did call her to immediately leave her life of sin. This is a perfect display of both truth and love. Jesus told the truth that all present were sinners, and yet handled in great love. He forgave the woman, and was gentle with those who were provoked to anger.
Although PC culture tells us love is to tolerate everyone, Jesus calls us to more then just to tolerate. He calls us to unconditional love while balancing radical truth-telling as we serve our surrounding communities.
